Organizers Estimate Over 25,000 Attendees
The civic group Candlelight Victory Transition Action (Candlelight Action) held the '29th Candlelight March' on the 4th around Sungnyemun in Jung-gu, Seoul, demanding the resignation of President Yoon Suk-yeol and a special investigation into First Lady Kim Geon-hee.
According to the organizers' estimate, about 25,000 people gathered. They filled four lanes of the road stretching from City Hall Station to Sungnyemun. Independent lawmaker Yoon Mi-hyang also participated in the rally. Participants waved placards with slogans such as "Resign Yoon Suk-yeol" and shouted, "Yoon Suk-yeol, apologize to the people."
Placards condemning lawyer Jeong Soon-shin, who was appointed as the head of the National Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency but was dismissed after his son's school violence record was revealed, and Police Chief Yoon Hee-geun, who recommended him, were also seen.
From around 6:30 p.m., the rally participants marched using two lanes, passing Gwanghwamun, the Japanese Embassy, Jonggak Station intersection, and Euljiro 1-ga intersection. At the front, they carried a large Taegeukgi (South Korean national flag). Initially, they planned to march surrounding the Japanese Embassy, but the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency prohibited this route, citing that it was too close to the embassy, so the route was modified.
Some participants shouted near the Japanese Embassy, "Stop the Korea-US-Japan war alliance," and "Japan, do not dream of deploying the Self-Defense Forces to the Korean Peninsula through Yoon Suk-yeol."
Earlier, at the Baekbeom Kim Koo Memorial Hall in Yongsan-gu, about 150 representatives from 143 organizations, including Seoul People's Action and the Seoul Headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, gathered for the 'Seoul National Assembly' condemning the government.
They stated, "Civil society organizations agreed that problems can no longer be solved through sectoral responses," and "We will unite our strength and fight to judge the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, which is destroying people's livelihoods, democracy, and peace."
Lee Jang-hee, Standing Chairperson of the Seoul Headquarters of the South Side Committee for the Implementation of the June 15 Joint Declaration, said in his opening remarks, "This administration is suppressing labor unions and activists to the extent that democracy is disappearing," and "When the government resorts to public security crackdowns to change the situation, the lives of the people are pushed to the brink every day."
Lee Jong-cheol, representative of the October 29 Itaewon Disaster Bereaved Families Association, raised his voice, saying that the government has not properly taken responsibility for the disaster, and questioned, "I wonder whether the people of the Republic of Korea are fully guaranteed life and dignity."
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